Irish election: How would parties spend the Apple tax windfall?

The cost and availability of housing remains one of Ireland’s biggest social, economic and political issues.

Fianna Fáil, currently the largest party, has said it will allocate €4bn (£3.3bn) for social and affordable housing.

Another €2bn (£1.7bn) would go to a new “Towns Investment Fund” whose remit would include upgrading infrastructure to “open up more serviced sites for building homes”.

Their coalition partner, Fine Gael, has promised to allocate more than half of the Apple money to housing.

Sinn Féin, the largest opposition party, has specified that €7.6bn (£6.3bn) would go towards a public housing programme.

It would also allocate €1bn (£830m) to a redress scheme for people whose homes are crumbling due to defective building materials.

The Labour Party, which could feature in coalition negotiations, says it would use €6bn (£5bn) to create a state-owned construction company.

It says this would create “a permanent state capacity for the delivery of housing” and counter the “for-profit delivery model”.